Kakashi's New Student
by Pheonix Lake
Summary: Sasuke and Itachi, the last surviving Uchihas. But what if that estimate is wrong? What is Kakashi going to think about all of this? KakashiXOC Rating subject to change
1. Chapter 1

Name: Shirikima Uchiha

Country: Leaf (She was abducted as a child and taken to an experiment center far away, never seeing the outside world, then being made an assassin, sent out for the purpose of 'fixing' one of their failed experiments… She knows nothing on ninjas, only knowing how to fight like one…)

Age: 26

Height: 5'6

Weight: 110

Blood Type: 0

Birthday: September 1st

Description: Shirikima has long, ink black hair, seemingly a trait of the surviving Uchihas. Her violet eyes hold the secret of her clan, waiting to be found out, as her superior skills has left her no need to find or use the hereditary trait of Sharingan. With her hair reaching her waist and lower than her hips, it is a perfect place to hide her sword, a short, slim blade, made with a blood red redwood hilt. She is a hired Assassin, one known for killing quickly and painlessly, and often has many weapons hidden in various places on her person. She wears no mask, though she has one, a dark indigo mask that, if it will prove useful, will fit her perfectly. She has a slight build, and is extremely intelligent. She is rather bipolar, more often than not confusing her feelings. Can be quite emotional one moment, distant and reserved the next. Wears fingerless gloves, a black tank top with army green vest, and fitted Capri's, the part of her legs that are visible bandaged thoroughly.

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She sighed heavily, sitting on her metal chair, in her metal room, feeling their gaze on her naked form. She had been doing this for more than two decades, training, eating, sleeping, and killing 'test runs'.

She was their clean up system, they had to make sure they did it right. They had to make sure she did it right.

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"Twenty men in five minutes, sir. She's more than ready, we should not hesitate any longer in sending her to the Leaf Village."

"Good, she leaves tomorrow morning, before sunrise."

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"We are down five men from your guard." An even tone reached the Hokage's ears, and he looked up at the silver haired man before him with a grim nod.

"But is the rogue ninja dead?" He scrutinized Kakashi with wise eyes, and the nin nodded his affirmative, expression bored but eyes, (or eye) alert.

"Then we'll simply have to find more men, wont we, Kakashi." The Hokage gave the nin a pointed glance, and Kakashi sighed.

"I'll keep an eye out."

"Why don't you keep both eyes out?" Kakashi ignored that as he turned and left the Hokage's room, hands in his pants pocket.

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Shirikima blinked as they woke her up, handing her clothes and all of her weapons. She glared at their backs as they retreated, leaving her to dress. She didn't even know what she was doing yet! Bastards…

Finding her new clothes perfectly fitting to her new form, Shiri observed herself on the cold metallic flooring, noting that she looked dangerously beautiful. Her black eyes narrowed with self satisfaction, and she looked at the bandages next to her sword suspiciously.

"Hey, baka!" She yelled, looking up at the screen in the corner. It fizzed and a shadowed face appeared.

"Yeah you, that's right. What the fuck are these things for?"

"I don't care, Uchiha Shirikima, wrap them around your bare legs or something." With that the screen fizzed into blackness.

She mimicked him with a sour face, pink lips forming a pout. This was no doubt some way to fit into her surroundings where she would be killing. She knew now that she was going out into the world, for the first time in a long time. She had lost count… They never told her… She only knew her age, unaware of how old she was when they had taken her.

"Brother! Brother HELP!" She shrieked as strong men plucked her from her mother's cooling, bloody corpse. But the black haired boy whom she could no longer clearly remember had been too shocked to move to her aid, watching their brother tear their worlds apart. They had taken her to this lab, explained that she was to be used to fix a problem they had made in a failed experiment, and that she would be trained until ready to kill all who stood in her way, and they had assured her that there would be many. They had kept her longer than that, using her as a lab rat for other experiments, leaving her scarred, and often crying. The only soft thing in the world she lived in was herself, and she felt her skin to make sure that was still the case.

Taking off the sandals they had given her, she carefully wrapped the bandages around her calves, being sure to make it breathable for her blood, but tight enough to stay still, without moving from its place.

"Shirikima Uchiha." He said her name the other way around, so she immediately looked to the screen.

"You will go to a place called the Leaf Village, you will kill one Naruto Uzamaki, then you will report back with his head." She nodded, wondering who Naruto Uzamaki was.

The man gave her a quick verbal description before the screen was once again blank.

"Well, time to kill a bitch." Shirikima sniggered at her own dirty mouth, it was her trademark, but she only really swore for self entertainment. She got up, adjusted her sandals, and walked to the door, watching as it swung open and two guards grabbed her upper arms, bruising them as they walked her to the outside.

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"Where is Sensei? I really wish he could surprise us for once and just be on tiiimme." Sakura complained as she paced back and forth, swinging her arms exaggeratedly.

Naruto was all too quick to agree with her, the blond bed head teen looking this way and that to try and spot Kakashi-sensei before he arrived.

He shot a quick glare at Sasuke, who was leaning against the bridge's guard rail for what seemed like the thousandth time this week, waiting for Kakashi. 'I don't have time for this,' He ground out mentally, ignoring Sakura as she walked so close that the smell of her perfume, cherry blossoms, rubbing off on his elbow. He was more than happy to return Naruto's stare, at which the clueless blond turned away and resumed the search for the M.I.A sensei.

"I'm hungry!" Naruto complained loudly, after ten minutes of grumbling and watching Sakura's alluring figure walk back and forth, back and forth. She stopped, fisting her hands, and he gulped.

"HOW CAN YOU BE HUNGRY? WE JUST ATE RAMEN HALF AN HOUR AGO! DO YOU KNOW HOW HUGE THE TAB WAS! YOU BE GLAD IRUKA-SENSAI WAS WILLING TO SPEND THAT MUCH ON YOU!" Sakura blew up at him, and Naruto opened his mouth in defense.

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Shiri's step faltered at the sound of loud voices, her sensitive ears ringing. All those years in captivity made her sensitive to such trivial things, and she chuckled, shaking her beautiful head of hair, allowing the black bangs to cover her black eyes. She followed the source of the loud noise, down small dirt alleys, until she came to a bridge.

Three children, teenagers most likely, were standing on the bride. A girl with short pink hair was yelling at a boy whose hair made it appear he had just awoken, telling him that he didn't have to be suck a fucking pig. Well, she said pig, Shiri though fucking. The other boy, though… Her memories stirred, and she blinked wildly, trying desperately to grab at the tender threads keeping her mind blinded to the obviousness of the name! That MUST be her brother. She bit her lip, finger's running through her hair to grasp her sword hilt thoughtfully. She would kill Naruto, then ask questions. Yes, she liked that plan.

With supernatural speed, she was upon them, running along the guard rail with no hesitation, obviously not worried of falling as she fell upon the blond haired boy, making the pink haired girl scream and her brother grunt with vaguer surprise. Shiri smirked as she held Naruto to her with her sword drawn, slightly cutting into his neck as she breathed hot air on his ear.

"Too easy…" She teased, and her knuckles turned white as she prepared to slit his throat. He struggled, only making the cut deeper as some of her hair fell around them.

"Let him go!" The pink haired girl shrieked, though not yet hysterically, as she looked on wide eyed.

Shiri passed her a glance, and smirked.

"Nice forehead, girly." The girl fingered her forehead, and her eyes went white.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING BILLBOARD BROW!" Shiri was amused now, feeling Naruto's blood hit her thumb as it ran in a thin line down her blade.

"Lemme go!" The squirming fool gasped as the blade cut deeper, she was fooling with him now. The pain blinded his thoughts, making it impossible to think of an escape route.

The black haired boy, her beloved younger brother, stepped forward, pulling out a shuriken. Shiri sent him a pained look, and his eyes widened.

"Brother! Brother!" She mimicked her younger voice, using an assassin's cunning to distract him as she pulled her blade away, getting ready to slice this blonde's windpipe.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! HELP!"

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Kakashi was walking down small alleys, taking his time. He flipped the page of a certain orange book, in the middle of an interesting chapter when the scream reached his ears. His visible eye narrowing, he threw the book down, not sparing it another glance as he sped off.

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Kakashi? Who was that? Their teacher? Bewilderment was clear on her face, and her arm hesitated with her mind a moment. She gasped as a gloved hand shot forth, grabbing her sword arm and pulling it behind her, yanking her back into a solid, warm body. Naruto sputtered and ran a few feet away to turn around, pulling bloody fingers from his neck and grimacing.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The girl's voice was relieved, and she shot Naruto a worried glance.

Shirikima, meanwhile, was fuming.

"You're hindering the process, dearest," She snarled, struggling to free her arm, the flat of her sword pinned against her captor's chest. She could not picture him, but he was very powerful, strong, lean muscles felt under her twisted hand.

"So sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you kill Naruto." His voice was milky smooth, like cream, (though she had not had cream in more than two decades), and she murmured a profanity before leaning back and relaxing.

"Why?" She whined, twisting her neck to try to get a glimpse.

She could only see a dark indigo masked chin, he was looking at Naruto.

"Sakura, mind looking at that for him?" Kakashi, that was his name, she remembered, instructed the pink haired girl, Sakura, who nodded before turning to Naruto.

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Kakashi had sped to the scene, pulling up his forehead protector as he ran. If anything was happening, he wanted to see it as quickly as possible. It was a good thing too; someone was ready to deliver a slayer blow to Naruto. He sped up, grabbing her arm and pulling it back behind her, her body following and crushing into his own.

While Sakura tended to Naruto, Kakashi's eye's flitted to Sasuke, who was standing stock still, his shuriken hanging from limp fingers.

"Sasuke." He addressed the young nin, who, startled, dropped the shuriken.

"Ah, brother," The woman in his arms had gone limp at the site of him so shocked, her heart suddenly beating faster. Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow, watching Sasuke's eyes turn angry.

"My sister is dead." The boy snarled, still looking at her with a heated expression.

"Well then I suppose I'll just let Kakashi make that a reality." The woman retorted, and Kakashi stealthily took her sword from her, still holding her securely to prevent any attempts at escape… And because he was a sick sick man.

She squirmed against him, trying to get to Sasuke, who suddenly shook his head at Kakashi. Kakashi shrugged in response, it wasn't like he was planning on killing her.

"Then what is your name?" Sasuke challenged in a cautious voice, black eyes studying the woman in his sensei's arms.

"Shirikima Uchiha…" She suddenly had tears in her eyes, and Sasuke's eyes widened.

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His name was Sasuke… She longed to reach out and pull him to her, to ask his forgiveness of using his memories against him in an effort to kill his friend… But the strong arms surrounding her, right below her chest, were kind of constricting. She rubbed against the holder, hoping to distract him enough to loosen his grip, but he did not respond with anything but a slight increased tension.

"Let me go see my brother." She snarled, and the venom in her voice made Kakashi release her. She flew to Sasuke, who, with wide shocked eyes, dodged her attempt to grasp him. Kakashi's amused chuckling hit her ears, and with a determined expression, she turned to face Sasuke, deciding that an embrace was a bit of a quick action.

"I was in her arms when he killed her, you were in the doorway, Sasuke, remember?" He swayed, but was still listening. "I called for your help as the men dragged me away… You were too disturbed. I'm sorry I didn't fight them harder brother, if I had I would be with you right now instead of on my first mission to the outside world to kill your friend."

"W-where did they take you?" Sasuke was dazed, that was obvious enough, she may even go as far as to deduct that she had thrown her dear younger brother into shock.

"I don't know, they kept me in a metal room for twenty years, training me to fix one of their failed experiments." She fixed Naruto with her black eyes, and he shrunk away.

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Kakashi watched all this, slightly surprised. Another Uchiha? His eye widened, and his head snapped to the side, narrowing his visible eye in concentration, then slight surprise.

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Sasuke blanched. His sister screamed in front of him, her beautiful face contorted with pain as she reached out to him.

"Brother…?" She looked down at the tip of metal jutting from her shoulder, and slowly turned her face to narrow her eyes in anger, rage, pain, weakening…

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"Ino!" Sakura cried, watching as her blond friend stabbed Sasuke's sister viciously in the back, watching Sasuke's face contort, widen, surprise written all over him. His sister's blood splattered onto his cheek, and he gasped, reaching out to her.

"Don't you dare hurt Sasuke!" Ino yelled, twisting the Kunai Knife viciously, gaining a gurgled growl from Shiri.

"I-Ino, my sister, why are- why did you do that?" Sasuke's voice was distant as he pushed Ino away, her Kunai going with her. He quickly clasped his hands to his sister's shoulder, pupil's dilated. He wouldn't show his emotions, his sister would live. Narrowing his eyes, scrunching up his nose in anger and selfless rage, he smacked Ino.

"What the fuck did you think you were pulling!"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's hands replaced the spot where Sasuke's hands had held moments before, stumping the blood flow as best he could. "She doesn't know what is going on… Ino, go wait in the park, near the Hokage's palace. I will explain this there," He sent her a serious glance, and she nodded, still holding her cheek with a shocked expression.

Sasuke struggled with the realization that he couldn't kill Ino for trying to kill a sister who looked suspiciously dangerous. He turned to see Kakashi picking his sister up.

"Follow me." Kakashi's command was absolute, and the four young nin nodded, Sakura Naruto and Sasuke following Kakashi and Ino walking to the Park.

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Her scream flooded her own ears, which were now pumping with adrenaline. Kakashi's jostling, though as gentle as possible, made her clutch at her shoulder and weep. She had never been injured before, had always killed everyone else first.

But then she let down her guard.

"Sasuke… Brother…" She looked around frantically, and saw Sasuke looking at her from the crook of Kakashi's arm (that being her view of him walking beside Kakashi, not him sticking his head into Kakashi's elbow XD). She reached out both hands, and Sasuke grabbed one, Kakashi's hand moving to grab another.

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As he grabbed her soft hand, he deduced that sometimes when one was close to blacking out, comfort could help them overcome things such as pain, stress, or fear. He had a feeling that Shirikima was feeling a combination of these, and she looked up into his visible eye in shock, before her black eyes softened and she turned back to her young brother.

Her voice rasped, but it did not keep her from speaking, Kakashi ignoring the blood seeping through his vest and shirt to run down the length of his body, one of his feet leaving behind them a trail of blood. "Sasuke," Shirikima began, and Kakashi listened intently as they headed towards the Hokage's palace, and thus moving closer to the best doctor in the village, "You've grown so… You look like father. I missed you, brother." He heard Sakura sniffle in the back, and figured the pink haired girl was sensing the emotion charged in Shirikima's words.

Kakashi saw Sasuke's gaze falter, and watched the nin work his lower lip between his teeth, unsure of what to say.

"I thought you were dead," Sasuke's voice was level, but there was emotion there, "I missed you too, Shirikima." Kakashi watched his student struggle, and decided that the Hokage's palace should be moved closer to the bridge.

"You shouldn't talk anymore, Shirikima. You have lost enough blood." They finally reached the palace, and immediately the Hokage noticed his guests and called in the medic nins, his personal medic included.

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Shirikima awoke, but didn't open her eyes. Funny, she had thought she would dream of her brother, but instead she dreamed of the silver haired man who had stopped her attack with such simple means, and yet not killed her, or grudged her. He was holding her hand tenderly, carrying her in his strong arms, ignoring the blood that seeped from her. Blood… That reminded her. She moved her arm to touch her shoulder, and cried out, her eyes shooting open. She had tried to move the wrong arm… She felt the wound open once more, felt the bandages on her shoulder begin to dampen as her vision swayed.

"Sister? Don't faint on me again." Her brother's voice cleared her thoughts, and she looked up to see both him and the silver haired man, Kakashi, she remembered now, her not being good with names… They were leaning over her, Kakashi with his forehead protector, or at least that's what she suspected it was, pushed up so that it was now even. He must have been dozing, because he was rubbing the eye that had been formerly covered. She watching him, and as he pulled his fist away and opened the eye, she gasped, and screamed so loud that a vase collapsed. Kakashi and Sasuke winced, and Shirikima fought to gain control over herself.

"Itachi…" She mumbled, confused, delirious. Sasuke shook his head, looking to Kakashi then back to her.

"No, he has the Sharingan as a gift. Nothing to do with Itachi." Sasuke supplied, his eyes pleading her to calm. No one else would have noticed that in his eyes, but he was her brother. She knew.

"Kakashi…" She looked back to the silver haired man, who waved with a wolfish grin evident in his eyes, even if she could barely see it through his mask.

That's when she noticed. Despite years of nudeness before scientists, male and female, she blushed crimson. The only thing covering her top half was a bandage! That's why Naruto and Sakura weren't in here, she deducted, Naruto would have lost it and Sakura, well, she would have to stay with Naruto and make sure he didn't lose it anyways. But that's not the way she saw it, she saw it as they were too young to be in a room with a virtually half naked woman.

"Pervert!" She suddenly found energy as she raised her uninjured arm and grabbed his masked chin, turning his head roughly to the side as she looked frantically for her black undershirt. Sasuke watched, slightly amused, as his sister found her shirt, Kakashi with his mismatched eyes drooping comically.

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Kakashi had indeed had traveling eyes while Shirikima had been sleeping, but they had been on his book, 'Make Out Paradise'. It was his third time reading it. He waved it in the air slightly, and said, "I've been wrongly accused more than once."

The girl ignored him, lying back down and closing her eyes, deliberately facing her younger brother. He thought back to when he had been carrying her, thinking past all of the blood that still covered his clothing. She had been incredibly slender, her curves seeming to fit into his gentle-as-possible-hold, her head fitting comfortably, for both of them, in the crook of his arms. She wasn't that much shorter than him, with the trademark black hair of her clan, with the blue inky hue that reached her hips. When they had taken off her clothes, (they had had to, that when the younger members had left, Sasuke as an exception,) they had found bruises, places where shots and needles had been given, hand marks on her hips which had made Sasuke blanch for the third time that morning, hand marks everywhere, bruises scabs and general damage wrought continuously.

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Kakashi got up, pulling his forehead protector back over his sharingan, and nodded to Sasuke. "I'm going to inform Ino and the Hokage of this interesting tidbit, I suspect you want to stay with Shirikima." Without waiting for Sasuke's answer he slipped out quietly, and Sasuke heard him tell Sakura and Naruto that they could come in. Sakura dragged the half asleep Naruto into the room.

"Sasuke, how are you doing? How is your sister?" Sakura immediately bombarded him, and he sighed, leaning his chin on his palm, looking down on his sister.

"She's delirious, but definetly my sister." That's all he said. He wasn't surprised when Sakura's slim arms gave him a brief hug; he knew she was going to do the whole pity thing. But still, he twitched just a little.

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Pheonix: Well, this is my first Naruto fanfic, how did I do? Please R&R, even if I have the next chapter planned out reviews make me write better!

And basically I love Kakashi and Sasuke, so I made a character that could have to do with them both :)


	2. The New Adventures in Konoha!

Pheonix: Eh, should be working on my other stories right now, but I figure since I have muse for this one I'll get this chapter out of the way. Oh, and Shirikima's age is questionable right now, she's a bit old. I'll notify you of permanent changes, but she's simply too old to fit her past right now, hehe.

Review Replies:

kakashi-vivi – Heh, glad you think so. But could you tell me why? It's so hard to find good muse when you don't know what your readers want…

AnimeotakuBara – Now now now, you two! Tell me more than this! Eh, how do you expect a girl to get a decent amount of muse? Feed me! XD well anyways, here you are.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. End of story. (Did I even do a disclaimer in the first chapter? 0.0)

Kakashi found the teen nin sulking on a bench, her head dipped so that her blond bangs covered her blue eyes. He sighed, putting a hand to his face before tightening his resolve. He said he'd explain what he knew, right?

What did he know?

That was a good question.

Eh, maybe he should not be asking himself this.

Then again, how would he say all of this to Ino?

'I don't know a damn thing about the woman, but she is apparently Sasuke's long lost sister, and basically he's pissed at you for stabbing her.' Perfectly darling, Kakashi, just amazingly genius.

Ino looked up, apparently feeling his eye on her, and waved a bit dismally. He sighed and stood in front of her.

"Ino, you do realize that the woman you struck was Sasuke's sister…"

"But she had been holding a knife, Kakashi-sama! She had already attacked Naruto, and had chased Sasuke…" She bit her lower lip.

"But you realize she is Sasuke's sister."

"Yes, Kakashi-sama."

"I do believe that next time you see Sasuke you will owe him an apology."

"Yes, Kakashi-sama. But how did she get here? When did she get here?"

Kakashi gave one of his 'eye smiles', the lid turning up as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That I do not know, Ino, but it is not important. Think before you act, a little harder, next time, if you don't mind." With that, he 'poofed' away, not exactly enjoying the pained, frustrated glare Ino had shot him.

He saw the girl sigh from his simple hiding place behind a group of nin, and heard her say, "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…"

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Sasuke rose an eyebrow as Sakura inspected his sister's shoulder, the pink haired girl was obviously curious as to how deep it was.

"Sakura, it wasn't a matter of how deep it was, it went through her arm." Sakura blinked at him, and went back to inspecting his sister's shoulder.

"Ya, but I want to see." She was cautiously picking at the edge of the bandages, and Sasuke's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist and pulling it away. Sakura gasped, and looked to him sullenly.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, I should leave it alone, I know…" She looked down, and before he could release her wrist, she was pushing his hand back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He tensed, sitting ridged, as she shivered slightly.

"Sasuke, I thought she was going to kill you…" Sakura quickly stopped herself, knowing that she would only disgust him if she cried, and released him. She began to walk out.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's slightly surprised, but still level voice made her stop.

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"I'm fine." She smiled with a nod as he said this, and walked out into the hallway to sit next to Naruto, who then sat up.

"I'm going to my house; I can't stand waiting around for some girl who tried to kill me to wake up. Do you want to come with me, Sakura?" The girl glared at him and shook her head vigorously. The blonds face fell a notch, and he waved.

"See you guys tomorrow, then." He walked out of the medic wing and out of the building, heading to his apartment.

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"Hokage-sama." Kakashi addressed as he walked past the guards and into the room. The Hokage looked to him, nodding.

"Found anything, Kakashi?" Kakashi nodded, smiling slightly.

"I have found one Shirikima Uchiha whom might prove to be of some use." Kakashi replied lazily, though he was still attentive.

"Uchiha… Aren't there only two Uchihas? Boys?" The Hokage was obviously confused, only Itachi and Sasuke lived from the Uchiha massacre.

"Apparently, that particular statistic has room to be edited."

"Well, then, report back with more details." The Hokage could tell Kakashi didn't know much yet, and was merely keeping him posted. The Copy ninja nodded before 'poofing' back to the medic wing.

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Kakashi walked towards Shirikima's room, pausing slightly as he reached the chairs in front of her door. Naruto had left, no doubt to bribe Iruka for some late night ramen, as now it was turning dark out. Kakashi had taken a detour, eventually forcing himself to close the damned book and go back to the hospital to see how the assassin was doing.

Seated in the chair, Sasuke's eyes were closed, his head leaning against the wall as he slept lightly. The boy stirred as Kakashi passed, ready to defend the door, before relaxing and falling asleep again with a mumbled 'Hn'. Sakura was watching the young nin sleep, her green eyes thoughtful. She gave a short wave to Kakashi, who returned the gesture before quietly opening Shirikima's door. As the door slid open, he was startled as something wet seeped into his hair. Something green slid down his cheek, barely visible from the corner of his eye, and he ran his finger along it, looking at it and groaning.

A giggle alerted him to where Shirikima was, hiding behind the bed with Naruto and snorting, grunting and giggling like hysterical whelps. Kakashi's eye twitched, as his hand reached up to pull yet more green hospital jello from his once well groomed hair.

"N-Naruto said that it would help to keep the nurses away…" Shirikima fought between giggling and a slight amount of fear. Naruto was dying of laughter. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, still feeling the jello corrupting the roots of his silver hair, and threw a kunai at the boy, making sure it missed only by a centimeter. Naruto stuttered, and Kakashi said lazily, but with a tint of his being annoyed, "I won't miss again," Naruto grumbled and carefully gave his sensei five feet as he skirted out of the room.

"I-I can get that out for you, Kakashi…" Shirikima was slightly embarrassed, standing there in her regular attire again. She was stiff in her shoulder, but otherwise seemed alright, besides her worried looks at the door.

Kakashi gave her a look that clearly said 'I sure hope you were planning on getting rid of it,' and she nodded, moving to the bathroom door and motioning him to follow.

He couldn't allow himself to be anymore than annoyed with her, she was obviously extremely bothered by something. But it made him wonder how old she was, to fall for one of Naruto's revenge attempts… She bit the inside of her lip, he could tell by the taught skin on her cheek, and said, "I need you by the sink," He grudgingly moved forward and she grabbed his hair with sudden agility, flicking on the sink with the other hand and none to gently shoving his head down. His eyebrows raised, and he contemplated the fact that she was basically holding him there. He thought that perhaps he should refuse to move down willingly, but finally allowed his back muscles to hold him up as her fingers began to run through his hair, rubbing out the green substance that she obviously hadn't trusted. Her fingers felt good on his scalp, but as soon as he felt the last of the jello seep out, he easily pulled out of her hold, running his fingers through his wet hair like a squeegee.

"Ah, you are annoyed with me?" She asked, washing her hands to make sure that none of the jello remained in between her slender fingers.

"A bit surprised that you actually let Naruto prop a thing of Jello in your doorway…" He said, studying her. Normally he would be fuming; angry at her rough treatment and childish prank, but then he noticed her darting eyes again.

"What?" She asked, as if not hearing him, voice trembling, her good arm rubbing her bad self consciously.

The door opened, and she gasped. A nurse was there, holding a small injection needle, and as soon as Kakashi blinked Shirikima was hiding behind him, trembling. So that was it, she was planning on the nurse falling for that, instead of Naruto planning on him walking through. And she was afraid of needles. The nurse gave a stern look at Kakashi, and he smiled, it only showing in his eye of course.

"I don't think she wants it," He said, amused tone implying.

"H-hai, I don't want it, nurse-san." Suddenly Kakashi was reminded of all the bruises and dots on her arms, and concluded that they were bruised because she had fought the needles, from wherever she had formerly come.

"It's not an option, miss, the doctor told me to give this to you. It will help keep you calm." Kakashi felt the room drop about 100 degrees, felt Shirikima stiffen, felt her bristle from behind him.

The icy voice that came from her throat surprised him.

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Rage built long ago, deep inside, suddenly flooded my senses. I stepped from Kakashi's safe back, eyes narrowed and cold, my arms no longer trembling.

"Calm." I snapped, voice seemingly causing another glacier in the mountains.

"Want to see calm, bitch?" No more nurse san. How many times had they fought me, restrained me with leather straps, binded me to my metal bed as they gave me some damn shots to calm me, when all that had disturbed me was the shot in the first place! My rage flared once more. I heard Kakashi's voice cautioning me, but I ignored him.

"THEY MADE ME CALM! IS THIS CALM ENOUGH FOR YOU! Is this the calm you want? They trained me to be a calm, composed, assassin. THEY made me who I am. AND I DON'T WANT TO BE CALM!" I snarled, my voice rising and falling like a violent wind. Kakashi's hand was on my shoulder, roughly holding me, but I clasped it, throwing it off rather angrily. 'I want to be scared… And protected… And be able to cry and laugh and run. I don't want to be calm anymore.' That was the message that my eyes sent him as I whipped around to glare at him, desperately hoping he saw it. He was staring at me, rather surprised, as if expecting me to explode in front of him.

"I believe you can leave, now." He stated to the nurse, not taking his eyes off of mine as if trying to understand. I visibly relaxed if only a little as I heard the nurse stutter a hai and quickly shuffle out.

"Who is 'They', Shirikima?" Kakashi wasted no time in ruffling my fur. I sighed, walking to my bed and sitting on it, feeling a headache coming on now.

"I suppose you saw, Sasuke told me what he had seen…" I began, glancing at Kakashi. I grimly smiled, looking to him again this time. Sasuke had asked me if they had done anything to me. He hadn't asked who they were, though, so I had told him that I was still holding onto a bit of my innocence. That had answered my brother's questions, for a while…

"I'm sorry Kakashi, I don't know you, you don't know me, I can't trust you with this. Not yet, at least." He looked ready to challenge me, to demand answers, but I shook my head. "Not yet." I could see his mask move a little as he pursed his lips. 'No matter how much my instincts tell me to trust you, Kakashi, I can't.' I thought, looking at the clock. It was around nine, but I wasn't tired. Not even after all of that.

A tapping on the door made my eyes shift, and I watched as a man wearing a dog mask came in and whispered something to Kakashi. The ninja nodded, and the dog mask wearing man left again. I was eyeing him curiously, and he shook his head. "Nothing important yet." He gave a crap explanation.

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"Who was that guy? Why was he wearing a mask?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Didn't she know about ANBU?

"What do you know about ninjas, Shirikima?" Something about the way she had said it told him that she was a lot more lost than those questions let on.

"A bit, old memories here and there, not much." She replied, eyes unconsciously pleading to be told.

"That was a powerful Ninja, carrying a message for me." He went on to explain these things more into detail, gaining a nod and sometimes, her eyes would even flash, telling him that she had just remembered it. After about half an hour of going on like this, she seemed satisfied. But he missed the slight mischievous look cross her features.

"It's too hot," She complained suddenly, getting up and pacing. She turned her gaze to him. "Can we go out and walk around? I want to see the landscape a bit more…" She gave him puppy eyes, but he didn't need any convincing. This hospital was rather stuffy.

"Come on, I'll show you around." He chuckled at her excited face. Bipolar much? She adopted a much more serious aura as they slipped passed the doctors and nurses, who had advised her that she should be on bed rest for a day or so more.

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Naruto was swimming in it, finally! The broth rolled over him, and he opened his mouth, greedily gulping, a fork and knife suddenly in his hands. He looked curiously at the knife, and then smirked. There were obviously ramen noodles too big to slurp in this huge masterpiece!

Greedily gulping, he found himself halfway through the beautiful thing, when suddenly the white light that had been a back drop turned dark. He gulped, and it wasn't ramen filled… Air. A giant Ramen noodle was rising from the cup, mouth at the end of it opening to show huge rows of teeth, like looking into the mouth of a leech. He began to swim away, quickly discarding any and all notions of wanting to eat it, and yelped when it wrapped around him, lifting him up.

That was when he saw the teeth up close, face first, down the hatch.

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Shirikima walked beside Kakashi, enjoying the crowded streets filled with people, the one thing she had always had a lack of at the lab. They smiled at her curiously, but not impolitely. But she was annoyed. Yet another glare lit up her black eyes as she scrunched up her nose at Kakashi. He had pulled out a book a short while ago, 'Make out Paradise', and even though it was dark, he was reading it. Every once in a while he would switch a page.

(Flashback)

"What is that?" She asked as he yanked it from his pocket and opened a saved page.

"Hm?" He hadn't even looked at her, and with pointed annoyance, she had taken it to find out for herself.

"Gah!" What the hell did he have a book like this for! He had yanked it back with an offended glare and continued to read, ignoring her as she yelled at him about what a sick, demented man he was.

(End of Flashback)

"What's that?" She asked. The crowd was answering more of her questions than he was, and it was only proved when an older man followed her finger and said, "Oh, that's the ramen stand." Ramen? She decided not to ask anymore, and merely followed Kakashi as he took a turn. Finally, Shirikima got fed up, and grabbing the book, put it in her pocket, now returning Kakashi's glare.

"I'd like that back." He stated.

"Tell me about this place first!" She insisted, crossing her slender arms over her chest and pouting, though her eyes held their gaze.

"Ei, you're worse than the Hokage about details…" He muttered, still eyeing her pocket.

"Hokage?" Sasuke had told her a bit about it, but she decided to pretend she didn't know, to keep Kakashi talking.

"The Hokage is the most powerful ninja in this village." Kakashi explained bluntly, reaching for her pocket to get his 'triple x' book back. Shirikima swung her hips away from him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, then debating what he had said. Well, she though, looking around, I don't see anyone that looks immensely powerful, except… She looked to Kakashi.

"So you're a Hokage?" She had totally missed the part where Kakashi hinted that he had talked to the Hokage. I mean, honestly, Shirikima, that means that either Kakashi is schitzo or he's not the Hokage. But…

"Hm? Me?" He pointed to his chest, and gave a familiar eye smile.

"Close, Shirikima, but not quite. I'm not that old."

"Well, I never said anything about being old; you're the most powerful ninja I've seen thus far." She shrugged.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head with the heel of his wrist, chuckling. "Well, The Hokage is a very old, powerful, wise man. Now those don't fit me." She was obviously complimenting him in her own little way, but he wasn't used to compliments.

"Well then, where is he?" Shirikima asked, eyeing Kakashi curiously.

Kakashi jabbed his thumb to the direction beside them, and Shirikima then noticed a huge building. "In there." While she was distracted, her reached into her pocket and pulled out his book, keeping a death grip on the binding as he found his last sentence.

She yelped, jumping away from the touch as if electrocuted, and then pouted. "Hey! Now you're not even going to hear me if I ask you anything!"

"Oh I hear you." Kakashi muttered, flipping the page. A light bulb went on top of his head, and he smirked. "Tell you what; I'll stop reading my book until we get back."

Shirikima narrowed her eyes. "The catch?"

"You tell me who 'they' is, and your past to top it all off."

"That's a heavy price for your undivided attention." She looked away, clearly frustrated, biting her bottom lip slightly as she considered this. Well, he wouldn't tell anyone, right? And at least he might pay attention then…

"Well my undivided attention is hard to come by." Kakashi replied, still reading his book. She looked at him, and suddenly grabbed it, and he allowed her to take it. Giving her a victory smirk, he led the way to a bench on the side of the street, and she sat down, putting the book on her knees and running and index finger along the binding nervously.

"You promise not to tell?" She looked at him, her black eyes demanding.

"Sure." Kakashi was being pretty patient now, as he watched her look down at the binding. She was getting ready to begin, finding the right words to say.

"Well, I can't remember how old I was, since time became irrelevant…" She began, finally leaning back and closing her eyes.

"I was talking to my mother, of what I can't remember, when he came in. My younger brother had been acting strangely lately, and without hesitation he had killed my mother, the shuriken had pierced her back and ct my stomach lightly, she had been hugging me…. She died almost instantly, and when I heard Sasuke's gasp, I felt arms grabbing my shoulders, prying me free. He had known he wouldn't be able to kill me, and had arranged for me to be taken away. I was helpless, they were too strong, and I could only listen as he killed the rest of our clan." She didn't realize that she had started crying, because they were silent tears.

"All I can vividly remember, though, is Sasuke's face… It looked as if he were begging me not to leave him, begging me to stop the destruction. I couldn't do it, of course." She finally noticed the tears, and wiped them away.

"From then on, my life was hell. They put me through various experiments, having me kill convicts to strengthen me, telling me that I would right all of the wrongs in their experiment. I would be the handy-man, so to speak. That's why I have all of these bruises, that's why I hate the needles." She knew Kakashi had been with Sasuke when they witnessed the bodily damage.

"That's why Sasuke had thought I had been raped… It is true that one of the convicts I attempted to kill before I left was a rapist, and he had tried it. But I left him in such a state that if he should be alive right now, he wouldn't get much satisfaction from it." She gave a devilish smirk at the thought, and Kakashi suddenly realized why she seemed so insecure. Insanity made her scary, and it helped her survive those years. Yet, from this short time he had known her so far; she seemed pretty sane, except for the little words that would trigger something.

"Their mistake?" Kakashi asked curiously. Shirikima nodded.

"The Nine-Tails was an experiment of theirs. True, it had been powerful, but they infused it with more chakra, how I am not certain. That is why it was so powerful. To kill it, Naruto has to die. I was ordered only yesterday to find and kill him, and bring his head back. I have a feeling that when I don't return, they won't just give up on me. They'll come after me, no doubt."

Kakashi considered this. "So you have to kill Naruto to save yourself?"

"Yes."

"You know I can't let you do that."

"I do know that. I can no longer allow myself to do it. Naruto is Sasuke's teammate; I could not kill him now. I will have to find another way." She got up, and looked down on Kakashi, who was pondering.

"I don't know what I will do, but I hope that I can stay here for a while…" She muttered, looking around. These people did not gaze at her with fear and anger, nor dread. They seemed to accept her. A face flashed into her mind, a young face with long black hair and brown eyes, and a kind smile.

'Haku… Wherever you are, thank you.' She thought, looking up at the moon and smiling gently, the image of her lost friend flashing in her eyes. Shirikima looked down to see yet another masked man talking with Kakashi, and Kakashi nodded.

"The Hokage would like to meet you, now." He gently took his book back from her, and led the way back to the building.

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The ANBU guard stopped Shirikima from following Kakashi. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he said, "The Hokage would like to speak with Kakashi alone, first." She sighed and leaned against the wall, watching the door close behind the only familiar face she knew in this place.

Meanwhile, Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage, who gave him a serious face.

"She was taken after the massacre to a lab, then sent here to kill Naruto… She no longer has any reason to do so, however."

The Hokage took this bit of information in. "I see. Do you trust her to stay in this village and guard?" Kakashi gave no verbal answer, nodding his form of reply to be an affirmative.

"Send her in, then. We will see if she accepts this proposal." The ANBU member nodded, and without hesitation Shirikima was at Kakashi's side, curiosity making her black eyes glint.

"Hokage-sama, I have already heard quite a deal about you." She nodded, knowing it would be polite to greet him first. The Hokage seemed slightly surprised, and inside his head, 'An Uchiha is making the first greeting?' But he was able to brush it off, and quickly responded.

"As I have you, Shirikima. Kakashi has told me some details of why you have come here," The Hokage ignored Shirikima's glare in the copy ninja's direction, "But I feel that I can trust his word that you will not attempt any more assassinations here in Konoha."

"Then you are correct." Shirikima replied, her voice guarded. Just how much information had Kakashi shared with the Hokage?

"If you are planning to stay here, then I have a proposal for you. Do you think you can handle being one of the guards here?" The Hokage was quick to reach the point, and Shirikima looked to Kakashi, an eyebrow raised. He shrugged, silently telling her it was her choice.

She was careful to look around, making her decision quickly. The guards here looked skilled; maybe she should take this proposition as an honor?

"I must say your proposition surprises me, Hokage, it seems you are very confident in Kakashi's and mine' word. I hope not to disappoint you, and if anything, I will take this offer in good stead if only to prove what I have told you." The Hokage seemed satisfied, and nodded.

"I have a feeling that you don't feel the need for your hospital bed any longer," He ignored Shirikima's head shaking from side to side, "But I will have to find an empty apartment for you here first. Until then, tonight you either sleep in the Hospital or stay over with someone else." Shirikima was working her lower lip between her teeth again, and the Hokage waited patiently.

Shirikima weighed her choices heavily. She couldn't possibly go back to the hospital; she'd go insane if she tried to pull that one off. But… She glanced at Kakashi, and then looked away, glaring at the ground pointedly. "Kakashi?"

"Unh?" The damn bastard was acting clueless! He knew what she was implying.

She crossed her arms, and replied, "Hn."

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked again.

"GR!" She stomped her foot and glared at him. "I'm not going back to that freak-house, Kakashi." She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ah. I suppose it would be possible to arrange what you are implying for a while," Kakashi smirked and laid his arm across her shoulders. "Then it's settled, no?"

"Kakashi, if you weren't going to be under the same roof as me, I'd kill you." Shirikima seethed, brushing his arm away.

The Hokage chuckled. "I shall send for you in a week, Shirikima, and evaluate." He nodded, signaling that they could leave, and Shirikima led the way out, eager to be away from the stuffy room and the masked guards. She noticed the open window and opted for jumping out of it, landing on a rooftop below. She heard Kakashi's muffled drop behind her, and grumbled.

"Do you have to act so thick headed?" She threw over her shoulder, and he made a sound that suggested he knew nothing of what she was implying.

"Oi, baka." She hissed, plopping down and leaning back. "So I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

Kakashi muttered agreement, and she growled when she realized he was reading his book.

"Gimme that!" She snarled, snatching it away and hiding it in her breast pocket. He wouldn't dare go after it now, and his eye drooped forlornly as he crossed his arms.

"What do you want," He sighed, shrugging his shoulders in a temporary defeat.

"Let's go see your place." She said, smirking with victory. He sighed, waved his hand in a 'follow me' manner, and led the way down the various streets. Shirikima gasped as a young child ran past her, almost knocking into her, and Kakashi yelled something over his shoulder. Straining to hear him above the noise, "Konohamaru, you better not be bothering the Hokage." Yup, that's what he had just said. She blinked curiously, but didn't ask.

Kakashi suddenly stopped in front of a door, and she looked up. It was a rather large building, and she doubted that it all belonged to him. "Apartment building?" She asked curiously, and merely noticed his nod. "Never go next door." He warned her, opening the main door and walking in, going down a left hallway and opening the door at the end. His apartment was rather large, and she curiously peaked around the corners quickly.

"Why not next door?" She inquired, not stopping her inspection. It was actually clean, and she raised an eyebrow at a picture sitting on a small table. Kakashi was in the back of the small group, one hand on her brother's head, the other on Naruto's, his masked chin practically resting on Sakura's as the two of them smiled, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to glare at each other. She giggled lightly and put it back, just in time to hear him answer, "Just trust me on this one."

"Sure," She shrugged her shoulders, moving back to his living room and eyeing the pretty large, soft looking couch. She plopped down on it, and her eyes widened when something was pulled away from under her. "Huh?" She looked over, and saw a huge grey and white cat sitting there, looking at her indignantly. Kakashi reached his hand down and rubbed the animal's ears before going into the kitchen.

"You hungry? You didn't eat your jello, so I'm wondering what other hospital contraptions you passed up." Shirikima glared at him. "You didn't have to walk in before the nurse did, you know." She crossed her arms, now making a face very similar to the cat's.

"I take that as a yes." He smiled and disappeared into the other room. Shirikima sat for a moment, and then looked over to the cat. He had to weigh at least 25 to 30 pounds, but yet he wasn't ugly fat or anything. It was just his tummy. His head was nicely defined, as well as his neck, and broad shoulders to hold himself together. She put a finger to her mouth, and in a split second, the cat was in her lap, growling slightly as she pet his tummy. "Man you're fat."

The cat seemed to give up, and she examined his collar. "Shamrock, eh? Funny name."

Something that smelled good was coming from the kitchen, and Shiri got up, dragging the animal that she would now forever swear weighed a ton, and wandered to the kitchen. Kakashi was cooking up some chopped up pork as a kind of late night munchy or something, and she seated herself against the wall, the cat in her lap. Kakashi noted her presence out of the corner of his eye, and said, "You actually got him off the couch?"

"Well yeah, I mean he's heavy but I'm not weak." She replied, tilting her head slightly. Kakashi shook his head, turning back to the stove.

When the nin was finished, he turned around and raised his eyebrow at the sight he was sure he was really seeing. Shirikima was flat on the floor, Shamrock resting on her stomach, her eyes closed peacefully and her mouth curved up in a slight smile as she cuddled his cat.

"She must've been more tired than she thought." Kakashi glanced back at the meat he had prepared, and packaged it before turning back around, shooing Shamrock from Shirikima's hold and picking her up. The cat followed after him as Shirikima's arms wound around his neck. Kakashi realized dismally that she had his book in her breast pocket still, he could feel it against his chest… The girl had a death grip, and as he neared his bed and laid her down on it he had to twist his neck uncomfortably to free himself. The dark haired woman sleeping under his gaze seemed so much more at peace now than she did when awake, and he closed his eyes for a moment. A tremble of motion on the bed made him open his eyes to see Shamrock curl up beside Shirikima, who immediately wrapped and arm around the fuzz ball.

"Traitor." Kakashi glared at the cat, who twitched his tail amusedly, and made his way to the couch, plopping down and almost instantly allowing himself to slip into sleep.

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Red eyes surveyed the waking village, narrowed slightly as they flitted from one building to the next. The eye's owner ran a hand through his long bangs, blinking a few times. He was no where to be found…

Then something, or rather someone, caught his eye.

What the hell? Was that a cat?

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Shirikima hurried along the busy morning streets, Shamrock swinging slightly as he was too big to hold in one hand as she was trying to. The other hand was flipping a dagger, and so the cat was reluctant to move.

(Flashback)

Shirikima woke up, something warm and fuzzy breathing in her arms, and the smell of that obnoxious copy nin seemingly burned into her nose. She looked up and realized that she must be in his bed!

"Did he get me drunk!" She panicked for a moment, alcohol was not her thing and would affect her immediately… But Kakashi wouldn't do that. She had gotten up after satisfying herself that she did not have a hangover or anything of the sort, to find a note and the packed food on the table.

'Shirikima, I'm going out to train the kids, so after you eat this if you want, feel free to come and find us. Shamrock may know where to look. – Kakashi'

Honestly, didn't he know that Shamrock was too heavy to carry around?

(End Flashback)

After remembering that, Shirikima stopped, and looked at Shamrock.

"I know…" She smirked, and the animal squirmed as she put him down.

"Run Shamrock, or I'll get you. Better find Kakashi!" She threatened, chasing after the now terrified animal with her dagger held menacingly high. People got out of the cats way, chuckling slightly, as Shamrock ran away from the threatening woman.

Panting, Shirikima was half tempted to stop. How could the damn thing go so fast for so long? She remembered the powerful chest that Shamrock boasted, and sighed. But then they came upon a clearing, and she literally laughed with relief.

Shamrock was perched on Sasuke's head, and her brother looked as if he was about to kill him in three seconds. Kakashi appeared and picked up the animal, who meowed and clung to his vest with sharp claws.

"Terrorizing my animal, I see?" He chuckled. "Good morning."

Shirikima gasped out a good morning before sitting against a tree, fixing her bangs so that they were away from her eyes.

Sasuke stared at her, and she waved back, catching her breath quickly.

"Hey, little brother." She greeted him happily, smiling. Naruto was glaring at her, and she noticed he was standing farther away than he had been before. She chuckled, and waved at him and Sakura as well. Sakura, at least, waved back and called a good morning.

A mad scrambling noise alerted her below her, and she saw Shamrock launching himself up the tree, he was having a bit of trouble. She reached down, scooping up the grateful cat in her arms and laying him carefully in her lap.

"Alright you three, last one standing, half an hour." Kakashi called behind him, signaling the start of the student's sparring match as he jumped up to sit next to Shirikima. For once, he didn't pull out his book, and she snickered. "Mind momentarily away from the gutter, Kakashi?"

"Gutter? Since when is my mind ever in the gutter?" He asked, looking at her innocently. She narrowed her eyes, and poked him in the chest with each word for emphasis.

"Probably since you were born." He sweat dropped, rubbing the back of his head and grinning wolfishly. "Well, maybe not that long." She amended, ceasing her poking and leaning against the trunk of the tree and crossing her legs, sitting so she faced Kakashi's side.

"What are you planning on doing until the Hokage meets with you?" Kakashi broke her train of thought, and she looked at him, shrugging.

"Enjoy myself, get the lay of the land, I guess? Get a life." She shrugged, and She heard her idiot brother's voice flow right into her goddamn ear drum.

"Life? That's a new one for you, sis."

"Oi! Just what kind of death are you ordering!" She hissed, leaning forward and losing her balance, hitting Kakashi and knocking both him, her, and the cat down to the ground.

"Honestly, you can't even keep your balance." Sasuke rolled his eyes, blocking Naruto without a thought as the blond haired ninja launched another pointless, direct attack. Shirikima pushed off of Kakashi's chest, blushing thoroughly.

"Honestly, a decade in a lab and they didn't teach you proper footwork." An even voice sent chills running down her spine, and it took conscious effort not to shrink back down against Kakashi. The silver haired ninja under her pushed her up with him, and narrowed his eye seriously.

She followed his gaze, and gasped.

"Brother!"

Pheonix: MWAFWAFWAFWAFWAFWA! This HAS to be my longest chapter EVER! Praise for self, praise for self! Teehee…


	3. Shopping Spree!

Phoenix: lol, more chapters! Yay!

Disclaimer: Sniff I lost millions on that lawsuit last year…

Review Replies:

Okay, it's seriously saddening that my longest chapter EVER doesn't get ANY reviews.

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Itachi's eyes adopted a look of satisfaction as his sister blinked rapidly at him.

"Why so surprised?" He asked, stepping closer. As he did so, Kakashi stepped in front of Shirikima.

"Itachi, what do you want?" The Copy Ninja asked, and Itachi mentally rolled his eyes. Instinctively he reached his hand out, blocking his little brothers rather weak attempt at a kick and throwing the youngest sibling away.

"Family reunion." Itachi replied, using his arm to block his brothers repeated attempt, drowning out the stupid teen's yelled threats and angered attacks.

"Sasuke!" Shirikima called, and as the boy backed up to attempt another attack, she grabbed his shirt, hauling him back to where Naruto was standing.

"Sasuke, you're not powerful enough yet. You know that! Don't waste everything by killing yourself here, now." She murmured, before returning to Kakashi's side. Itachi shot forward, and soon Kakashi and he were in a pretty serious battle. Shirikima looked to Itachi's eyes, then asked herself why. What did she not remember? Then, Kakashi's call alerted her to the danger.

"Don't look into his eyes, any of you!" He commanded, before taking a nice knick in the side of his ribcage. Shirikima winced, and darted forward, hoping to get in a good punch or something. But her younger brother reached out, and seized her injured arm, making her cry out. How did he know?

She was thrown away from him, and gasped as her shoulder connected with the harsh ground, stopping only when Sasuke kneeled down and barricaded her momentum.

"Shiri?" He questioned, angry black eyes looking down at her.

"Fine, fine." She nodded, struggling to get up so as to reassure her brother.

"Hey! What's going on?" A voice yelled, and Genma and Gai were approaching quickly from that direction. Shirikima looked to Sasuke, and said, "Who the hell are they?"

"Friends of ours, I guess." He replied, still glaring at his brother and fighting with his will to attack.

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Itachi sighed, though it was disguised as merely a deep breath as he took in the reinforcements.

'Crap, I can't fight all of them at once without making my presence overly obvious…' He told himself, and with one final glare to Shirikima and Sasuke, he disappeared.

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Kakashi's punch hit air where Itachi's cheek had been moments before, and he stood up straight, watching Genma and Gai check up on everyone else before coming to question him.

"Why was he here?" They both asked in unison, and Kakashi shrugged, looking back to where the oldest brother Uchiha had disappeared.

"I don't know." He said, looking to Shirikima. The young woman was rubbing her shoulder and looking to Sasuke, who was glaring at Itachi's get-away spot.

"Friends of ours? That guy looks like overkill!" She muttered to her brother, before getting up. She walked straight to Kakashi, her black eyes hardened into a glare. For a moment, he thought that she was mad at him for some reason, but she lifted a single finger to his face, and ran it along the side of his eye, shooting pain through the nerves there. She pulled her finger away, and showed it to him.

The blood was barely enough to talk about, but she still grimaced at it, wiping it off on her pant leg.

"He cut you." She stated simply, before promptly turning on her heel and brushing past Gai and Genma, silently making her leave. Shamrock waddled after her, tail held high as he struggled to keep up.

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Shiri led Shamrock through a mass of people buying, trading, and talking, until she reached a silent pathway, where she stopped.

"Brother, you've grown too talented for your own good." She muttered, looking at the dried blood on her pant leg. Shamrock stopped beside her, meowing worriedly.

A change in the wind caused her to look up, and she gasped. A boy was standing there, his red, spiked hair and blue eyes creating a unique combination. He had love tattooed on his forehead, and a sand gourd rested on his back.

"Hello…" She began awkwardly. He didn't look like he was from around here, and she rose an eyebrow. He said nothing, only dropping from his perch to the ground.

She was getting ready to walk away, when his monotone voice reached her.

"You look like Uchiha Sasuke." She blinked, and turned back around.

Yup, he was staring at her. She sweat dropped, and said, "Well, I should hope I do, I'm his sister." The boy didn't show any actual surprise, but he was interested.

"That's impossible." A new voice and face appeared, that of a young, blond haired girl carrying a huge fan. "He's the only survivor of his clan."

"That's where you're wrong." Shirikima shrugged.

"Prove it then. The Uchiha clan is known for it's Sharingan." The girl countered, a smug look on her face.

"I don't need to prove the blood that I know flows through my veins." Shirikima growled.

"Temari, let's go."

"Gaara?"

The boy didn't reply, merely began to walk away. Shirikima crossed her arms, a thoughtful look on her face. The Sharingan…

(Flashback)

"She can't even use her sharingan!" Father sounded angry, and young Shirikima Uchiha was not in any state to interrupt. Her parents did not know she was listening, merely continued their conversation without the knowledge. It's not like they needed to know…

"I'm not sure… Maybe it's merely that she can't control it? There have been similar cases, Uchiha's with Sharingans too powerful to control." Her mother replied, still cleaning.

"But Itachi is younger than her, his Sharingan is powerful. He has perfect control over it!" Father seemed unwilling to give up.

"Give it time, dear." Her mother, always resolute, continued her task, and her father turned to seething quietly.

(End Flashback)

"Father was right. I just can't use it!" She growled, frustrated.

"Use what?"

Shirikima turned around, and met the eye of her least favorite Room mate.

"You know… Even Sasuke can use it by now, I expect." She replied, breaking eye contact.

"The Sharingan?"

"No, the toilet." She replied, scoffing at his less than intelligent reply. Deciding to change the subject…

"Who was that kid?" She asked craftily, picking Shamrock up.

"He was a Sand Genin," Shirikima thank god, remembered his explanations of this ninja life that she had been thrown back into, and nodded.

"Have you ever tried to use it?" Kakashi was too damned stubborn!

"Yes." She glared at him. "Look, Kakashi, I really, REALLY don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Sure." He nodded. "Is your shoulder alright?" Shirikima raised an eyebrow, and then looked to her shoulder. She gulped. Blood was seeping through her clothing.

"Dammit." She cursed. "He must have opened it back up!"

Kakashi stepped forward, and placed his hand on her shoulder. He concentrated, and chakra surrounded his hand. Shirikima felt a bit better now, and she could tell the bleeding was stopped.

"Since when are you a medic nin?" She teased, though she shot him a thankful glance.

"Just something I picked up on the odd mission." He replied. Shirikima nodded, then after a minute…

"You can let go now." His hand obligingly left her shoulder.

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Shirikima sighed, stepping into the hot water with relief. Her bandages covered her shoulder and part of her neck still, the neck only to help support the ties. She knew that after this she would have to ask someone to re-bandage it, and that made her sigh. The only one that she knew would still be up by the time she got home was Kakashi…

'Eiii! I can't possibly ask him!' She thought, shaking her head. The public hot springs, divided into different gender halves by a wall, were extremely calming, and she allowed her mind to drift. This was much different than a cold –

"Shirkima-san?" A young voice alerted her, and she blinked.

"Ya?" She looked to the figure, and recognized the pink hair belonged to Sakura. The girl moved towards her, and sat beside her. "Hey, Sakura." She nodded, smiling softly.

"I didn't expect to see you here," The girl admitted, returning the smile.

"Well, Kakashi mentioned something about Hot Springs, and so I decided I'd just find it and relax a bit… But after this morning, I'm finding it kinda hard." Shirikima replied, chuckling at herself.

"So, you just want to think happy thoughts!" Sakura had a determined look, and Shirikima sighed. 'Oh god…'

"I don't have many good thoughts." Shirikima replied, stubbornly crossing her arms in front of her.

Sakura giggled. "Well, I get happy when I think about a person who is special to me. Who is special to you, Shirikima-san?"

"Eh… Special to me? In which way?"

"You know." Sakura elbowed her playfully, and Shirikima blushed.

"Oh, so there is someone you have in mind!"

"No! I'm only blushing because I just realized what you meant!" Shirikima tried to defend herself, but Sakura was smirking fiendishly.

"Well, when I say special, who comes to mind?"

"Say what?"

"Special." Hmmm, Kakashi. 'AGGHHH! Not him! He's just a perverted ninja!' She was blushing profusely now.

"N-no one. You?" Shirikima said shakily.

Sakura looked doubtful, but she replied without hesitation, "Why, Sasuke, of course. Duh." Shirikima sweat dropped. "My little brother?"

"The very one!" Sakura was all giggly now.

"But there must be someone for you, Shirikima san! What about Gai-sensei? Every girl says he's the perfect stud." Shirikima raised an eyebrow.

"What, Stud? That black haired, bushy-eye browed freak? Yuck."

"Alright, what about Genma-sensei? He's pretty nice."

"Long haired guy? I guess he's okay to look at, but I don't know him." Shirikima was bored now. Sakura grinned, and Shirikima raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"There's only one other guy that you know…" Sakura began, and Shirikima fought the urge to stutter. She couldn't give herself away!

"Hokage-sama?" Shirikima's chin, meet Water. Water? Meet Shirikima's chin.

"OLD GEEZER! HELL NO!"

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Jiraiya sighed in defeat at hearing that.

'Oh well…'

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Sakura's pink hair blew back, and she hid behind a small rock.

"Just joking, Shirikima san." She said, eyes drooping in a rather comical display.

"Who I really meant was Kakashi-sensei!"

Shirikima gurgled as she fell back into the water, blinking and bringing herself back into the oxygenated air. She was blushing incredibly, and the image of the Ninja flooded her mind. Then, she saw him reading that damned book.

"NO! HE'S A PERVERT! I FEEL NOTHING TOWARDS HIM!"

Sakura blinked, and giggled.

"You do like Kakashi-sensei! It took to much convincing yourself to mean otherwise." She was nodding her head sagely, and then she stopped. Shirikima was close to feeling relief, until Sakura grinned.

"Perfect, you live with him!"

"Ahhh!" Shirikima was close to fainting now.

"It's settled. Meet me at the store tomorrow, Shirikima san, we're going to go shopping." Sakura grinned, over-enthused, and ran from the hot Springs, going to the dressing room. Shirikima sighed, leaning against the edge of the springs, and looked at her hair.

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Shirikima woke up a moment before Kakashi did, looking into the living room just in time to see his silver hair appear. He had insisted that she should sleep on the bed, that he would take the couch. She had argued, but he had proved quite stubborn.

"Morning." He greeted, meeting her gaze and waving.

"Morning." She waved back, remembering what Sakura said and trying not to blush as she got up. "I'm going shopping with Sakura this morning." She announced, and Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, she passed me on the way home last night and informed me that she was taking you shopping. I gave her leave off of today's training, she knows it all already." Kakashi nodded, getting up and rummaging in the fridge. Shirikima winced as she got up, and felt her stomach cramp.

'Crap…' "Sorry, Kakashi, I'm not hungry this morning, so I'll just go find Sakura now." She said, and before he could reply, she was out the door.

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"Sakura!" Shirikima called, nearing the girls house. They had passed it the other day, before the hot springs, and Sakura had told her that she lived their with her parents. The pink haired kunoichi was waiting outside, and she waved as Shirikima approached.

"Ready for today, Shirikima san?"

"Hai, except I have a stomach ache, so what do you say we walk slowly?"

"Sure." Shirikima smiled softly, and checked her pocket once more. The people at the lab had given her a lot of money, saying that she may need it to help her mission succeed… Well, she would need it, but not for anything mission related!

Sakura led the way through the village, and stopped at a large market type building. "Follow me!" She called, and walked into it, instantly going down the first aisle. It was like an indoor village square, little shops set up everywhere. Sakura looked at Shirikima, then smirked.

"Here, try this on." She handed her a black shirt, with no sleeves, that looked rather long bodied. It had a bunchy, thin turtle neck, and she added in an off white vest, that also looked very form hugging. Shirikima sighed, and looking around, found a changing stall. She went inside, and came back out. Sakura clapped her hands together, squealing. "You look amazing, Shirikima san!" Shirikima grinned, rubbing behind her ear slightly. "Thanks, Sakura." The girl nodded, and Shirikima paid the store clerk, grabbing her old clothes and taking them with her, not changing out of the new outfit.

Another clothes stand, and Sakura was handing her more clothes.

"This is seemingly the latest fashion for us kunoichis, it's a skirt, but it's split down the sides so that you will have the same amount of movement as you do wearing those… Usually you accompany it with bandages or shorts to conceal everything." It was black, Sakura had a color scheme going on, and Shirikima nodded. She chose bandages, and grabbing those, went to change. "Shirikima san! Take these too." Shirikima turned in time to catch a pair of gloves, and saw Sakura standing in front of a stand with some ninja accessories. The gloves had metal plates over the hands, and Shirikima could remember Kakashi wearing a similar pair. She nodded, and headed into the stall once more, coming back out moments later, fully clothed. Her sandals, thank god, were black already. Shirikima bought the items, ignoring Sakura's words on how she looked good in everything.

"… You are a Uchiha, after all, Sasuke always seems to look good as well." Yup, the girl was blabbering.

"Oh." Shirikima gasped and was immediately attached to a sword stand.

"What, Shirikima san? That thing? It's so small." Shirikima was running two practiced fingers along the edge of the blade, pulling them away with satisfaction when blood dripped down. "They're so sharp," Shirikima admired vocally, and taking a small metal testing dummy from the counter, she threw it into the air and cut it in half with the Wakizashi.

'My own wakizashi is not as skillfully crafted…' She thought, examining her old blade.

"Oi, I'm buying this." She alerted the stand manager, who nodded, accepting her money eagerly. Shirikima smirked, and sheathed the sword in her former blade, leaving her old one behind. When the store manager tried to give it back, she shook her head. "No, keep it. It only holds bad memories for me."

Sakura was looking at her, but when Shirikima met the girls gaze, she only smiled in return.

"One last thing… Sakura, where do you get hair cuts around here?"

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Shirikima screeched, the sword in her hand glowing purple with her chakra as she attacked criminal after criminal. She was 15, only fifteen years old! She screamed, a deafening sound, the tears running down her cheeks nothing compared to the pain that ran through her body. They had injected her with adrenaline, making her body ache, the only respite from the pain was violent movements. She twitched, killing count up to 10 now… Blood covered her face, her pained, saddened screams filling the metallic room.

Eleven…

Twelve…

She had herded them together, now that they were lined up, she stabbed her wakizashi through all three, dropping them to the ground.

"She's like an animal!" A joyous voice rang from the speakers, which the idiots had left on. Screaming, sobbing, tearing at her hair, her arms, her legs with her hands, she flew at the speaker and monitor, the walls, attacking with both her sword and her hands, throwing her shoulders against the bars, blood seeping from her own wounds and those of the ones she had killed.

"Kill me! I kill them, why not kill me! I'M A CRIMINAL NOW TOO! KILL ME DAMMIT!" She cried, banging her head against the wall, leaving large dents in the inch thick metal. Her muscles were tensed, then relaxing, then tensed as pain raced through her body, slowly, after an hour of trying to kill herself but without the guts to do so, she lay crumpled in the corner. Sobs wracked through her limp body, and she gripped her sword as her last place in the world, her last source of sanity.

"Remember this, Shirikima. The only proof that you are alive is the death toll you create with your sword. To the rest of the world but these criminals and I, you are dead." The voice taunted her, and her cries continued, louder, more intense.

"Why must you taunt me so?" She whispered. "Why can't I die!" She launched herself once more at the wall, knocking herself out quite effectively.

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"She's gone limp!" Sakura gasped, holding a hand to her mouth as she watched Kakashi and Sasuke struggle with Shirikima, who had been screaming for the past hour, trying to attack, making slashing movements, everything.

Sakura remembered how they had found Shirikima… She had led the woman back home after Shirikima's stomach pain worsened, and had laid her down on Kakashi's bed before giving her pain killers and leaving. Later on, after meeting up with Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi, they had been heading past Kakashi's house when he had said he needed something. They had joined him, and before they had left they had heard the screaming begin, heard the thrashing. When Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto opened Kakashi's bedroom door, they had found him trying to hold Shirikima back as she screamed, quite insane words too, and thrown her fists and arms about.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong with her? Why was she asking why she couldn't die?" Naruto asked, looking at the one who had been sent to take his life worriedly. Kakashi bore bruises all over him, it was apparent that Shirikima had quite a bit of physical prowess.

"I don't know." He replied, laying the girl back down and grabbing a washcloth that Sakura had provided, running it over her forehead. He checked her pulse, and sighed.

"She's physically fine, but she must be mentally unstable." Sasuke hadn't spoken a word, but Sakura was surprised to see the Uchiha's hand shaking at his side.

"I'm going for a walk." He announced, his voice frustrated, and Kakashi nodded.

Sasuke left, and Kakashi looked to Sakura, raising his eyebrow.

"What?"

"You aren't going to follow him?" He questioned, and she blinked. "I, guess I should…" She muttered, not loud enough for Kakashi to hear, and left. She ignored Naruto's voice behind her, asking if he could go too, and her inner-Sakura punched the air when she heard Kakashi tell Naruto that he should stay, convincing the blonde by saying that he'd need a strong helper if Shirikima had another fit.

Sakura followed Sasuke for a while, immersed in her own thoughts. But when she collided with his back, she gasped.

"I hope you weren't trying to hide yourself, because you weren't doing that well." He said. And she was too surprised to move.

"N-no, Sasuke, I wasn't… I was just thinking, that's all."

"Couldn't you have thought back at Kakashi's?"

Okay. Sasuke was talking to her. How many words had he just said? Like, seven? Holy cow. Breathe, Sakura, breathe.

"I guess, but I…" She heard Sasuke grunt, and finally she stepped away, looking around them. She realized she could hear running water, and looked to the stream on her right. It was dark out, and she could clearly see fireflies flitting around. They were surrounded by trees, the only sign that humans lived in the area being the small path that they were standing on.

"So this is where you always go." She saw him nod, and she sighed.

"Sasuke, about your sister… You're worried, I can tell." She caught his glare, and she looked away, not expecting an answer.

"Of course I am…" He said, his indignant tone not enough to mask his inner turmoil.

Okay, he actually replied. Weird… Scary… Was she going crazy?

She heard a rustle, and looked to see him sit down alongside the stream, his bangs shielding his eyes.

"Sasuke…" She whispered, and sat down beside him, looking at his face worriedly.

"It's like she's insane… When she's awake, she looks fine… But she was trying to kill herself, trying to kill us…" He murmured, only acknowledging her presence by the fact that he was sharing thoughts aloud.

Sakura nodded, and was surprised when she heard Sasuke growl. "What did they do to her? Her voice was so confused, tired…" Okay, the ice prince was now spilling his thoughts. Seriously, did he have a fever?

Sasuke stopped talking and thinking when he felt a warm, slender hand rest on his forehead. Before he could stop himself, he leaned into the pressure, sighing. He tried to catch his body before it responded, but instead he found the pressure on his forehead reassuring.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked tentatively, her thumb running across his hairline worriedly. Nope, no temperature, but was it just her or was he leaning into her touch?

"Just stop talking." He responded, and he propped his elbows on his raised knees, his palms rising to hold Sakura's hand against his forehead. Sakura blinked, confused, but decided not to worry. Sure, he was acting TOTALLY out of character, but it's not like two days gave him a lot of time to adjust to this. Hesitantly she sat closer to him, adjusting her arm so that it was more comfortable, seeing as it was being held, and rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel him tense, shudder, then relax, and sighed.

"She'll be fine, Sasuke. She just needs your help, I think." Sakura muttered, loud enough for him to hear, and reveled in his warmth.

She was leaning on him, THE Uchiha Sasuke!

Inner Sakura: HA, INO PIG! All's fair in love and war, boo ya!

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Shirikima woke up, to feel a slight pressure on her stomach. She remembered her nightmare, and shuddered, not wanting to open her eyes. But finally, curiosity won her over, and she opened them slowly, the ceiling wavering for a moment.

"Attack of the ceiling fans!" She muttered, waiting for the room to stabilize itself. Looking to her stomach, she smiled softly. Shammy was laying there, his large body rising and falling with each breath he took.

"Shammy, hard to breathe." She muttered, though she made no attempt to move him. Looking to her left, she noticed feet propped up on the edge of the bed, and followed them up, thighs, waist, vest, silver hair… GAH! Silver Hair?

Yup, that was Kakashi… Sleeping in a chair…?

"Kakashi, if you don't mind me asking, why the hell are you sleeping in a chair?" Shirikima asked, knowing that he usually woke up very easily.

No response. Shirikima rose an eyebrow.

Hmmm… Mask…. Curiosity killed the cat… Shirikima looked to Shamrock. Nope, he wasn't dead. She shoved him off, the damn thing didn't even wake up either. Leaning towards the sleeping jounin, she poked his check experimentally, and fought the urge to giggle shamelessly when his jaw twitched. Nope, he wasn't waking. First things first… Lower half.

She pulled it down, and sweat dropped when she was met with another mask. This second seemed to be connected in such a way that you had to pull the forehead protector away first, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly at Kakashi's cunning.

Hooking her finger under the metal, she began to pull, and shrieked.

"Yes?" He was staring at her.

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Pheonix: Teeheee! No reviews yet, but I needed to update this. Call it an urge, call it what you will, it happens sometimes.

To all of you lazy arses:

REVIEW! RAWR!


	4. A wedding? Really? SHOW ME THE FACE!

Pheonix: Okie dokies, this chapter may be more like a filler, but the big conflicts I have planned can only occur after a lot of character bonding takes place, and a bit of character change in Shirikima. I mean, I cant exactly jump into –

Shirikima: Hush.

Pheonix: (fumes)

Shirikima: You were about to tell them what happens!

Pheonix: argh….

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. Own the girl, though jabs thumb upwards at annoying muse

Review replies:

Three. You guys make me cry.

Raven: Why, thank you. But what, exactly, my dear, did you particularly enjoy in it? I am dying to know.

MizzyH: Well, your shorter name is easier to type, now, isn't it? XD Yay! Detailed review, I must say I was rather happy to see it. Yes, I threw in a bit of out of character Sasuke. Naruto… Is Naruto. JUST BECAUSE THE SHOW IS NAMED AFTER HIM DOES NOT MEAN I LOVE HIM! Maybe it does, just a little. But I didn't feel like exploring my muse in that area… Teehee. I'm doing my best to incorporate everybody, and once my parent's boating season calms down, and I get caught up with my schoolwork, it should be a snap to pull off a well rounded chappy! YAY! Ya, instant favorites, teehee :)

Marz: MY TWIX! FRIGGEN AWESOMENESS! Mwafwafwa. Yes, it slowed down thanks to that building we all know and love, Essex Aggie, but yours truly is plodding onward as resolutely as she can muster. (huggles) Yay, just yay…

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Sasuke awoke in his bed, and ran a hand through his hair before sitting up. His thoughts kept sliding to last night, to Shiri and then Sakura. Damn, now the pink haired girl wouldn't leave him alone… Then again, maybe she had learned by now and he wasn't giving her enough credit?

Whoa, wait a minute. What the hell? Man he needed coffee or something…

Getting out of bed, he shook his bangs from his eyes and went down the small flight of stairs, quickly making a cup of coffee and downing it, breathing out in relief. There, now he was thinking on a bit more of a normal note.

'She just needs your help, I think…' Man, since when did Sakura make so much sense?

Hn? Maybe another cup of coffee wouldn't hurt too much. And then a shower…

It was still way too early to go to the bridge yet, (even after a shower and more coffee), knowing Kakashi the team usually appeared at least an hour after he had suggested now, so no worries on time.

So now he walked out the door, and headed towards the park, pondering. How was he going to help his sister? What did Sakura mean?

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Naruto grumbled, walking out of his door and doing a face plant. 'Gotta, get to, training…' Of course, the boy didn't seem to realize that he would be at least two hours early if he went to the bridge…

"That stupid dream!" He growled, picking himself up and continuing on his way. Why did he keep having dreams of a giant ramen noodle eating him?

Then his mind turned to more serious thoughts. Shirikima Uchiha… She sure seemed to be a disasterpeice. (You know, masterpiece, disasterpeice? Come on, stay with me here!) After Sasuke and Sakura had left, Naruto had found himself sulking for another half an hour until Kakashi told him that he should be able to handle it from here. She left wherever she had lived before to kill him, and yet she wasn't trying to go back?

Instead she was sleeping in his sensei's apartment and coming to watch their training sessions as if she had known them her whole life. Didn't she have friends? Anything back from the dark little corner she crawled out of?

Naruto wasn't sure he liked her or not. She seemed like bad news, yet she was pretty entertaining, and didn't seem all that bad once she had stopped trying to take his head off. He stopped by the ramen stand, and happily gulped down his favorite food substance, his only food substance. Hey, he may have nightmares about it…

But heaven be damned if he was going to stop eating it!

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Kakashi felt a finger poke his jaw, and he woke up, not moving or showing any signs yet of his consciousness. Someone was fiddling with his mask now, and he could tell immediately who it was. Her breathing was harsh, and he even heard a disappointed grumble as she found his second mask. He opened his sharingan eye, knowing what she would have to do next, and mentally smirked in triumph as his hitae-ate was pulled away from it, revealing a surprised face staring right into both of his now open eyes.

"Yes?" He asked, gently pulling her hand away. She squealed, eyes wide as she back up, watching him replace his second mask and forehead protector.

"You're really too loud to expect that to work. Naruto may even have had better luck." He said, rubbing his back with his right hand in an effort to work out the muscles there. He didn't even remember falling asleep in the chair… She was staring at him.

"Your eye, it looks like Itachi's." She blinked, and looked away.

"Gomen, Kakashi. But why were you sitting there?" She continued, and he shook his head.

"Nothing, really."

"You just felt like watching me sleep? Honestly." Shirikima crossed her arms, puffing.

"Oh yes, it was extremely interesting." He chuckled until she whacked him over the head, the same place that she had hit last night. 'Ow…' He rubbed the bruised area, and went into the kitchen. Shirikima followed him, shuffling her feet and grumbling about how pointless it was to ask him anything.

As he prepared some toast and some tea, he listened to Shirikima spoil Shamrock with loving words and attention, the girl seemed to enjoy the cats meowed replies. He added some powdered medicine into Shirikima's tea, remembering the stomach ache Sakura had told her about.

Shirikima came in, followed by Shamrock, and Kakashi handed her the tea.

"Here, for your stomach ache." She nodded, smiling in thanks as she took it. Shamrock nipped at her calf muscle, and she yelped, turning around to scold him.

That when Kakashi notice that her long hair was gone. Just all cut off, from the top of her neck to her waist was now bare.

"When did you get your hair cut?" He hadn't noticed at first because the hair in the front was the same length as it had been, but now he realized how much younger it made her look.

"Huh? Oh, this," She ran a hand through her black locks carefully, "Yesterday with Sakura, she didn't tell you?" No, she hadn't. but Kakashi knew that the pink haired girl must have been too shocked by Shirikima's sleeping actions to remember something so trivial.

After they finished their breakfast, Kakashi looked back to the note that had been left for him by Iruka. He had half an hour, so he might leave in about an hour or so.

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Shirikima stopped at the door, and looked back at Kakashi, to see him reading his book quietly.

"I'm gonna take another trip to the Hot Springs… I'll meet up with you guys later." He nodded, not looking up, and she left, pulling on her other glove as she did so. Her nightmare from last night suddenly came racing back, and she gasped at the suddenness. Then, she knew why Kakashi had been sleeping in a chair by her side. He knew her weakness now… Angered, frustrated, touched… Sad. She fisted her hands and kept moving.

The hot springs proved relaxing, and Shirikima once more found herself trying to wipe away her past in the steam surrounding her.

"Hey there, mind if I join?" Expecting to note down the voice as Sakura's, Shirikima hid her disappointment. A young red head waded towards her and took a seat across from her.

"No, not at all." Shirikima muttered, though she kind of did.

"My name is Kinta, yours?" The girl asked politely, holding out her hand. Shirikima regarded it with a narrowed eye, her other closed, and said, "Shirikima." She really wasn't in the mood, until she noticed the girls expression. It was a bit giddy.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Kinta looked up at Shirikima's questioning, and giggled.

"I've been asked for my hand in marriage!" She responded. Geez, talk about a gloater. Nothing was more boring… But Shirikima decided to find out more. It was her nature to find out as much information as possible from a few questions, and this girl was the perfect type to give unwanted information.

"Really, by who…?" She carefully kept her tone level, opening her other eye and leaning forward.

Kinta giggled again, and replied eagerly. "Do you know the teacher? Iruka?" Shirikima's eyes widened. That was the guy who had called Kakashi to meet him this morning!

"I know of his name." Shirikima nodded, quickly masking her surprise.

"He asked me this morning… We've been together for a while, I'm so excited! And nervous, but mostly excited…"

"I see. Iruka asked Kakashi to a meeting this morning." Shirikima gave that much in return, nodding her head to signal her interest.

"Ah, Kakashi! He's always reading that book, ne? I think it unhealthy. He's always passing my desk at the Hospital, visiting friends…" Shirikima's disgusted look immediately caught on to Kinta, who frowned.

"What?"

"You work at the hospital?" Shirikima was inching away from the girl steadily.

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"You're engaged, eh?" Kakashi said, regarding a very excited Iruka with his coal colored eye.

"Yes, do you know Kinta Inate?"

"Ah, the hospital secretary."

"Hai. I've been with her for some time, you know." Kakashi was surprised, he definetly hadn't expected this. Had he even known Iruka was together with Kinta? Well, vaguely, now that he thought about it he had known.

"So, it made me turn to thinking, Kakashi."

"Thinking, sure that's not too difficult for you, Iruka?"

Iruka went bug eyed. "I'll ignore that." He said, sweat dropping. "But still, Kakashi, when are you going to find someone?" Hm? Well, ah… That was an unexpected question, and so Kakashi chose not to answer.

"No answer, eh?" Iruka elbowed the jounin, eyes narrowed into a smirk. Kakashi pulled out his book, sticking his nose into it in an extreme effort to ignore his friend's prodding.

Iruka sighed. There would be no complete answers now…

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"Hai, I do… Why?"

"I was in there only a few days ago, Shirikima Uchiha, if you can remember." Shirikima pointed to the huge scab on her shoulder, which she had been careful to keep out of the water. It was healing nicely, and Shirikima had decided to leave it out to dry and heal on it's own.

"Ah, it said on your profile that you went quite bonkers." The red head giggled, and at Shirikima's intense glare she waved a hand. "Well, it does! You yelled at a nurse for trying to help you."

"Help me! Ew, the thought makes me shudder!" The girl was still laughing mirthfully at her, and Shirikima sighed. "She tried to give me a shot." Shirikima's arms were once more crossed in front of her as a sort of defense. Kinta chuckled.

"Well, I'll be blunt, Shirikima, but I do not like needles anymore than you seem to. I'm merely a secretary." Shirikima visibly relaxed.

"I've decided, Shirikima, what do you say you and I be friends?" Friends. Such a touchy subject… Yet she seemed to be making plenty of them lately.

"Friends…" Shirikima pondered, this seemed like a big improvement in her attitude, to actually consider this…

"Sure, Kinta." Shirikima nodded, mentally shaking her head viciously to get her negative thoughts back into their corner. She wanted to start over, no?

"Good, I am glad." Kinta grinned happily, and got up.

"I have to go, Shirikima san, work calls!" She waved and left the springs, leaving Shirikima to her thoughts. The Uchiha woman smiled at herself… Maybe she would finally find peace in this village.

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Sakura woke up, and relished in the warmth of her comforter. Last night flooded back to her, she had practically been walked home by Sasuke! Ha, what would Ino Pig say? It's like she and him were on a date or something… But she knew somewhere that it didn't count. He had been tired, and had used her offer of comfort to help himself. But she didn't mind, in his state? She would have accepted the offer to be able to find comfort. And she had been his silent understanding. He had only stopped at her house because it was on the same route as he himself would need to travel, but he had said good night. She wondered how he would be this morning?

Probably quiet and reserved. She got out of bed and began to prepare herself for the day, smiling softly all the while. She saw a little bit of the inner Sasuke, if only a little. Who else could say that they had seen that? Sure, remembering Shirikima darkened Sakura's mood a little, the girl had been so distraught, even in sleep, when they say you should be calmest.

She walked out of her door, and once again found herself looking into an indigo colored chest. She took a surprised step back to see the Uchiha clan boy looking to the side, and watched as one of his dark eyes turned to look at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Hi, Sasuke…" Sakura stared, she couldn't help it… "What are you doing here?" Was this someone using genjutsu or something? Naruto? If it was… Oh man he'd be in trouble! She was even more surprised when he turned, grunting something about a walk and doing the very same thing in the direction of the bridge. He did know it was about an hour or so early for that, right?

Sakura caught up, and instead of watching where she was going, she watched Sasuke. He looked thoughtful, as always… She walked close to him, but not overtly close, since she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking she knew that he wasn't about to walk over a canyon anytime soon.

Then again, she could always be wrong.

She yelped as her left foot lost purchase on anything but air, and closed her eyes tightly. Well, she was done for. She turned her eyes to look down, and noticed that they had been walking the path that led to the top of the cliff, one of the more dangerous paths, and she was about to be the first fatality. But two strong hands clasped her shoulders, heaving her upwards again and throwing her, though not extremely harshly, against the wall, Sasuke leaned against it beside her, his eyes closed. He sighed, as she kind of gasped for air.

"You should really… Watch where your going…" Sasuke said, puffing slightly as he recovered from the initial shock of seeing her go down. Sakura nodded… "Thank you again, Sasuke." Man, everyone always had to save her! She even managed to stumble off of a rather wide path…

Stupid, stupid, stupid…

"Hurry up." The grunt so far ahead of her made her blink and look up. Sasuke was walking ahead, and she jogged to catch up.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked, and was answered when Sasuke took a turn, and ended up at a dead end. She hadn't known that the path ended this soon, and quickly adjusted herself. Sasuke sat down on the edge, his feet hanging over, and she joined him.

"What did you mean?" He asked.

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Man, heart attack much, Sasuke? Maybe too much coffee, he had been a bit too worried about Sakura to seem normal. She didn't have to fall down the freaking cliff, though.

"What did you mean?" He asked, talking about last night, how she had said that Shirikima needed his help…

"What did I mean… Last night?"

He nodded. "When you said she needed my help. How can I help her, if she can't help herself?"

"Ah." Sakura looked to the sky. "See? That's where Girls and Boys begin to differ. We want the help, it makes us feel loved. But you guys, you think that doing it on your on gains you respect, and though in a way it does, to us it's just not as satisfying. As to how you can help her… Talk to her. Show her you care. Maybe show her around? Kakashi-sensei may have already taken her for a short tour, but he probably had that dirty book out the whole time." She smiled, tilting her head at him. He was thoughtful again, and she waited patiently.

'Makes sense…' Sasuke thought, nodding. But what Sakura implied was practically changing his persona completely. Then again, he seemed to be doing that himself lately.

Looking out, to the distant other countries, Sasuke gritted his teeth slightly. Tour… A walk? Shirikima, if she really was his sister, would have the whole place in her mind already, and could most likely tell him a few corner areas. But a walk? Maybe…

"Thanks." Sasuke said, getting up and beginning the walk down the path. Sakura, of course, was close behind.

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He was sitting in a tree.

She was a branch above, slinking forwards on the tips of her toes. Very silently, like a gymnast or something, she swung upside down, one leg supporting her weight as she reached down, fingers itching to see it again.

The Sharinga-

She yelped and fell out of the tree when he said, "Nice try," and swatted her hand away. Shirikima twitched, a long groan releasing itself from her lips.

'Aw man…' She pouted.

"God dammit! Just SHOW me again!"

"No."

Shirikima pouted. "Why the hell not? I bet Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have all seen it already!"

"And?"

Okay, he really wasn't paying any attention. Shirikima crossed her arms in front of her and stalked off.

Nearly running over Naruto in the process. His eyes seemed baggy, as if he had had lack of sleep, and she prodded him warily.

"Why do you look as if you're going to fall over, Naruto?"

"Half… an hour… 'Till training…" The boy replied, leaning down and seating himself.

"Why are you so tired?" Shirikima asked, leaning down with her hands on her knees.

"Bad dreams…" The boy slurred, a haunted expression covering his face.

"Poor baby." Shirikima gave him an affectionate pat, dodging his slow moving hand. She looked up for Kakashi, to see that he had disappeared.

'Off to read more of his damn book instead of being on time…' Then again, if he tried to be on time now, that would make his students late. So what point was there for him to actually stay and allow Naruto to eventually find him?

She looked at Naruto.

Nevermind, Naruto wouldn't find Kakashi. The damn kid was sleeping.

Shirikima awoke, and yelped to find her brother's coal colored eyes staring dispassionately at her.

"You fell asleep, next to the dobe." He was being way too accusatory.

"I was tired?"

"I can tell."

Sakura was busy shaking Naruto awake, and Kakashi arrived about five minutes later, his eye swimming with some dirty thought that obviously gave him great entertainment. Shirikima pouted at him, and made a hooking motion with her finger on her cheekbone. He ignored her, and she slumped back against the tree as he gave his team directions.

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Pheonix: no cliffy, no immense angst or happiness or anything, but a filler. You hate me right now, but it's longish and I'd rather than not get some more intelligient feedback from you people, so ideas, anyone? I REALLY WANNA KNOW! COME ON! Haha. Next chapter should hold something along the lines of a party type thingyness. Ya.

Ja ne, R&R!


	5. Before Wedding Drunken Madness

Pheonix: Ah, my dearest marz, or shall I call you twix? You have the vaguest ideas of what is pertaining to the oncoming chapters. Let all be jealous of my beautiful twix for know more than them! Mwafwawa. I don't know why talking like this entertains me so. And, and so you all know, **I LIKE TO LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE I WRITE. Right now, I'm listening to Jillian (I'd give my heart) by Within Temptations. **I'm not sure that knowing this will make reading this anymore enjoyable, but if you have limewire and want to search up the song and listen to it, it might be kinda nice. Good song…

Disclaimer: I've seen kingdoms… Oops, that's a lyric, children. I shouldn't be singing. I don't own anything, you see, so no reason to be happy… But sing I shall, dammit!

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Shirikima looked up from her brother and their sparring match at the calling from a familiar voice. Yup, that was her name, alright. Sasuke, not officially thinking anything of it for a few seconds, attacked Shirikima with a kunai, which she blocked daftly with her sword before signaling to him that they were done. He didn't seem disappointed, or anything, for that matter, merely replaced his kunai and walked back to join the other members of team seven. As the figure came closer, Shirikima gave a rather surprisingly joyful squeal and launched forward, embracing the girl before her in a warm hug.

"Kinta!" The Uchiha girl held Kinta at arms length, examining her as if she were a prime rib ready to be bought at a market stall.

Which, by the way, Shirikima HAD LEARNED HOW TO SHOP! (AN: That will be explored in a one shot story that I am planning as a humorous side story to this… Look forward to it.)

"Shirikima!" It had been about two weeks since their first meeting in the hot springs, and now they were both extremely acquainted. Iruka and Kakashi had taken to calling them the beginning of the apocalypse, as they managed to be completely different and alike at the same time. Shirikima had, obviously, grown rather attached.

"You can let go now, Shirikima." Kinta sweat dropped, and Shirikima laughed lightly while releasing her friend.

"I wonder why the newest fiancée I know finds it fit to interrupt a training session?" HIS voice alerted her to his presence right next to her, and Shirikima stepped away begrudgingly to stand beside Kinta instead. Kakashi made silent note of this, but said nothing.

"Of course you do." Kinta said, turning away from Kakashi to giggle excitedly in Shirikima's direction.

"What?" Shirikima asked. Giggle.

"No, seriously."

Giggle.

"Tell me, you worthless piece of garbage!"

Some serious, hysterical giggling. With a rather affective glomp, Shirikima had the woman's attention, finally, and Kinta blinked apologetically before stating her purpose.

"A party! Shirikima, you're coming."

"I know I am."

"But how, I just told you!"

"Have you forgotten my amazing mind reading abilities?" This bought another giggle.

"Of course I haven't. How would I dare?"

"So, what's the party FOR?" Kakashi had been silent until now, by this time fully knowing that interrupting them too frequently could lead to even greater confusion.

"Duh – Wedding?" Kinta and Shirikima turned on him, hands on their hips.

"When?"

"Tonight."

"Ahhh… Where?"

"Damn you, Kakashi! So curious. Just follow the crowds." Shirikima teased him, and he scowled, remembering what had happened last time…

(AN: I know you guys are getting confused. Which is my secret plan. I'm making you confused about what they're talking about so that you'll want to read the side story to find out. Heehee)

"See you later, Kakashi." His reminiscing leaving him slightly behind in the conversation, he looked to see Shirikima chuckling as she waved good bye to him, and the girl turned to catch up with Kinta.

Kakashi sighed. It definetly wasn't the first time Shirikima had left their training sessions to spend time with the girl, and he knew that it didn't matter all that much.

After Shirikima's first week in Konoha, as promised, there had been an evaluation. Shirikima had gotten the role of playing guard at… Dun dun dun. The Hospital. At first, the girl had been thrown off course, but now that she knew she was guarding within talking distance of the secretary's office, she had been mollified into a rather happy night job. And even though she worked nights, she was still with them for training. The Hokage had not elaborated to Kakashi as what his reasons were for not giving Shirikima a harder job, but Kakashi had his suspicions.

One, she didn't know much of anything about chakra, never mind how to use it.

Two? She had a slight case of insanity at times.

……………………………………………………

Shirikima nodded admiringly as Kinta came out wearing a sleeveless night dress, a deep flame color that matched perfectly with the woman's deep red hair. It reached passed her friends knees, hovering amiably above the ground. It was rather low cut, and fit the curves everywhere in just the right spot.

"Perfect." Kinta agreed, as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Now, girly…" Shirikima stiffened. Yup, that was definitely a determined smirk in her direction. Crap.

"Off we go!"

If anyone had ever used the term kicking and screaming to be hilarious, it was fittingly so now. Shirikima fought valiantly, but Kinta had a rather effective hold on her hair, and soon it was clear that all efforts were in vain as they explored the many dress choices, finally settling on a deep indigo/almost black dress, with thin straps going smoothly over Shirikima's pale shoulders, and an intricate tie-up in the back, exposing most of the skin found there. It had a low cut, v-neck front, accentuating the curve of her breasts in a beautiful, yet completely respectable manner. It redeemed itself easily by having a rather long and flowing skirt, extra bits of fabric sewn into the bottom to add a bit of straight, yet fluttering frill. (AN: You know, like straightened hair blows in the wind? Well, ya, you don't know. But I do, and if your imagining frill as in tutu, go get your head out of the slipper wearing contortionist area and come back when you're settled.)

"Ah, and now these!" Kinta presented her with a pair of high heels, a rather nice looked black pair with a rather skinny two inch heel at the back, and long, stretchy straps attached so as to hold the shoe in place on her feet. These straps reached above her ankle then stopped, leaving yet more elegance to the ensemble. They looked almost exactly like Kinta's, except the bride-to-be's heels were shorter and a bit more stocky, due to her lack of coordination, or so the red head had tried to explain. Shirikima slipped these on, and paid the end total. Getting herself used to the heels rather quickly; it was all a matter of balance, really, she walked out confidently into the street, which was now turning to dusk. Kinta had obviously chosen to do this on a night when they didn't have to work, as their work schedules were the same.

Reaching the bar, which Shirikima had cringed at, they heard the commotion. Three tables were fitted together, three rather large tables, and there was so many faces that she didn't recognize. A lot of jounins, chuunins (AN: I cant remember if I'm spelling that right at the moment, I'm so hyper…) and it looked like quite a few genins as well. She recognized Kakashi and team seven, who had apparently been let in at the grace of the bar owner. She waved and smiled, trying to ignore the fact that this was the fanciest thing she had worn… Ever. Kakashi motioned to the seat next to him that was vacant as soon as he noticed her well hidden, but obvious discomfort. She smiled in relief, and at Kinta's un-needed urging, went to sit beside the jounin, at once being presented with some Sake. She shook her head vigorously, and the kind waitress told her that shed leave it there to see if it would be of any use in the later hours. Shirikima glanced at it, then chose to ignore it.

"I can see a certain fiancée took you shopping." The voice behind her surprised her, but only for a moment, and she smiled warmly as she turned to greet Iruka.

"Hai, and she has an impeccable habit of finding amazing things." Shirikima had learned manners, mostly at Sakuru's urging and insistence that she could not be a Neanderthal forever. Shirikima, of course, had been at offense for a while, before accepting her fate as such…

"…Three weeks…" Iruka paused as he noticed her expression. "Shirikima?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, Iruka, were you talking to me?" Shirikima sweat dropped, and resisted the urge to rub her head as she so often saw Kakashi doing. It was hard, living with him her first week, becoming attached, then moving into an apartment on the other side of town. She was near-by to Sakura's place, but it didn't change the fact that her former roommate seemed so out of reach. And what of the kitty-cat, you ask? Shamrock was displeased. And that's saying it in a nice way.

"I was saying," Iruka made sure he had her attention before continuing, "How Kinta wants you to be her maid of honor at the wedding in three weeks."

Shirikima's eyes widened, and she said, "Not a more long time friend?"

"Nope," Iruka grinned. "She said that a long time friend was nothing compared to a new sister."

Shirikima was silent now, extremely touched by her friend's obvious care for her.  
She had to say she felt the same way, of course. Iruka was called away, and with an apologetic wave he made his way towards the person calling, and Shirikima turned back to see Naruto and Sasuke glaring at each other. She sighed to see Sakura doing much the same to Ino, the blonde girl who still sent shivers down Shirikima's spine. Her hand unconsciously reached to her shoulder. The wound had scarred nicely, and was just finishing the healing process with only a bit of dry skin waiting to be officially 'attached'. She hadn't been wary at all of showing this wound off with her dress, knowing that wounds were a fact of life in a hidden village such as this one.

"So, who is everyone?" Shirikima asked, turning to Kakashi to see him contemplating something silently.

"Oi, baka." Shirikima sweat dropped as he blinked and looked to her.

"Yes?"

"I said," Shirikima began to talk very slowly, just to annoy him. She was still mad, of course… "Who-is-everyone?"

"Friends." Oh yes, she could have killed him. How over tempting!

"Gai-sensei! You've come!" A joyful voice and a rather overjoyed response hit her ears, and she saw Kakashi sigh. Gai… That was the freak?! Shirikima resisted yelping, and watched with an eyebrow raised as the sensei and his identical student, or at least assumed student, embraced.

"Great, the freaks have arrived." Shirikima muttered, and Kakashi, whom had caught that, smirked lightly. Shirikima may not have been doing it unintentionally, but within the space of fifteen seconds she had completely forgotten about revenge on him. It was rather interesting, her mood changes as well as changes of opinion. He just couldn't figure her out if her tried. But then again, why try when she would subconsciously feed him information? He had learned that she did this quite often, almost as a rule.

Sakura, as well, seemed keen on not going noticed by the enthusiastic boy.

That, my dear friends, is when the sound of doom caught her ears.

"You look gorgeous, Kinta-chan! The Image of Youth!" Gai was exclaiming profusely, pouring over Kinta's hand, to which Iruka was trying to regain claim.

Kinta sighed, and said, patiently, "Thank you, Gai. But oh, haven't you seen Shirikima's dress?" Within an instant, Kakashi had stiffened, and Shirikima had felt hands encircle one of hers as she stared with bewilderment into the heart shaped eyes of one very… How we say this… GAY looking Gai as he verbally praised her. Finally, she snapped.

"GET OFF!" She half yelped, half screeched, as to which Gai blinked and straightened slightly.

"A challenge! I shall graciously accept, dear lady Shirikima, as your extreme youth gives me strength to do all things! If I do not succeed in gaining a place in your heart, than it will be 10,000 laps around Konoha!" Shirikima skillfully wrenched her hands free, and darted behind Kakashi's chair.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, Kakashi, you're such a willing sacrifice." Shirikima replied, as Gai quickly advanced.

"Does this mean you two are together?! Have I missed my chance? Kakashi, what is the meaning of this!? I challenge you right now to a fight to win Shirikima's beautiful heart!"

"You've never seen my heart, you dumbass!"

"I am sorry, but I must object to you calling my sensei such!"

Oh yes, this was getting out of hand. After about half an hour of arguing, yelping, running, hiding, and more of the like, the group had settled to order some food and talk in a more civil manner. Shirikima was still panting, fanning herself with a folded napkin as if she would die from lack of oxygen. Kakashi had been unwillingly dragged into a conversation with Gai over how they were now tied in their eternal feud. Sasuke was staring ahead, ignoring Sakura's excited jabbering, and Shirikima didn't know which one to feel bad for. Her brother sensed her gaze and looked up, his expression unchanging, except that she noticed a slight glint in his eye. She must have just mistaken it, but she could swear it had looked like confusion, or possibly a silent question. But he obviously wasn't that interested in much right now, as he looked back to the opposite wall. At least, that's what she assumed he was looking at. She herself looked across the table, and her eyes met with the brown eyes of the other man who had appeared along with Itachi and Gai that day… What was his name? Genma… The senbon in his mouth flicked a bit as he noticed her curious stare, and he smirked. She shifted in her seat, allowing her gaze to travel away from his cocky expression to fall onto her 'sister'. Kinta was laughing with Iruka and a few other people about something, but turned her eyes to wave at Shirikima gleefully. Shirikima chuckled and returned her friend's friendly wave. Sitting next to her, Shirikima realized, was a young boy much the same as Sasuke in actions, his light colored eyes staring ahead as a girl with buns on either side of her head talked to him about something. But he made responses, the first difference from her brother that Shirikima noticed in him, either a nod of the head or a hummed agreement, a shake of the head doing for disagreement on the conversation. Sometimes he'd even shift his gaze for a few moments to look to something the girl was describing.

She felt breath on her neck, and yelped, looking behind her quickly. An inch away from her, was Genma, leaning down with that smirk on his face.

"So, you must be Shirikima Uchiha."

"And you're Genma." Shirikima replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable and pulling back a few inches.

"Interested in a drink?"

"Non-alcoholic?" Shirikima reminded herself that she had to be careful not to touch any sake, or anything alcoholic for that matter.

"Sure, non-alcoholic. Any other specifics in mind?" Genma was running the charm at full throttle, and it seemed to be working. Shirikima shook her head slightly, her black eyes still a bit wide, and he straightened before walking to the bar to get her a drink. Shirikima turned around, shaking her head, bewildered, and glanced at her half drunk water. Her eyes turned to gaze at Kakashi, and noticed that his water was empty and he had a sake bottle in front of him. Though it wasn't yet touched, she could tell he had the full intention of drinking it at some point. She wondered how she had not noticed his mask come down to drink his water. Trying to convince herself that she didn't care what was under the self-absorbed ninja's mask, she turned away to see an arm reaching over her shoulder, placing her drink in front of her. It was pink, and she thanked him. Genma hid his wolfish grin under a charming smile, and resumed his seat across from her.

Without pausing to smell the drink, Shirikima put the straw into her mouth and took a few sips, noticing the overly sweet taste. But that aftertaste… Before she knew why, she was grinning, and she put down her drink with disdain. She looked to Genma to see him smirking, and knew what had happened… Somewhere in her mind she knew she was now drunk. She stopped drinking the pink colored drink, sniffing disdainfully. Naruto's voice seemed awfully loud to her ears, and she shivered with discomfort. He was talking about dragging his teammates to the ramen stand instead, and Sakura was beginning to vouch for it out of her boredom. Watching the genins leave in what seemed like a very fast order, but which actually turned out to be an hour of her silent and intoxicated observation, she suddenly giggled. Kinta looked to her, and shook her head with a smile, blowing a kiss. This was one of their inside jokes, and Shirikima sluggishly 'caught' it, pretending to put it in her pocket and wink at the same time. This obviously was taking too much concentration, because she let loose another giggle. She felt Kakashi's eyes on her in a split second, instantly curious, and she turned to meet his gaze with a lopsided grin.

"What's goin'on?" She slurred, trying to raise an eyebrow. She looked to her drink and took another sip, getting up and walking over to Kinta with a grin.

"D'y'know wha' this is?" She questioned, kneeling beside her friend with some difficulty and showing her the spiked drink.

"Hmm," Kinta took a look, and said, "Well, sake, and Shirley temple. That's what it is, Shirikima." She threw her black haired friend a worried look as Shirikima struggled to stand, then her eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh, Shirikima, are you drunk?"

"Hm? Maybe. I dunno… Am I drunk, Kakashi?" She looked around the room dazedly, trying to pin-point the silver haired man, but then felt a stern hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, Shirikima, I do believe you are. Come on, let's take you home now." It was Kakashi's hand on her shoulder and his kind but commanding voice drifting into her doting ears, and she was all too happy to agree. Genma seemed disappointed, but Shirikima missed the threatening look her escort sent the older man as he passed.

Walking out into the street, Shirikima barely made it over the threshold, stumbling and grabbing onto Kakashi's shoulder for the sake of balance. It was a bit of a reach for her, to say the least, especially in her crouched, drunken state.

Light green eyes watched from the rooftops with interest and a mixture of disdain…

Pheonix: Yes, in case you are wondering, this has MAJOR FILLER written all over it! But if I didn't put this up I'm afraid Marissa may have stabbed me or something else more drastic. So, to preserve my life, I've thrown this together, and now have to organize my ideas on the one shot side story that I was telling you so much about throughout the chapter. Well, if you could excuse me:)


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